Self Serve

Posted on July 21, 2015 by flem0328

Okay, there’s been a hot button topic within the Autism community that I have yet to discuss but lately has gotten pretty heated on some forums so I feel I need to offer some of my insight on the issue. Within the community there seems to be a stigma around “self diagnosis” which is exactly what it implies, it’s someone diagnosing themselves as being on the spectrum without any medical proof or evaluation from a psychologist. Now you may remember back in the fall of last year when Jerry Seinfeld stated in an interview that he may be Autistic. Within moments of that interview there was a shitstorm of backlash from parents of children on the spectrum who saw this as simply a publicity stunt. To them it was nothing more than a celebrity attempting to capitalize on a struggle that affects many families. Their worse fear was that their struggle would be overshadowed by a celebrity who doesn’t look like they should ever be the face of Autism. Now while I feel for the families with children on the spectrum and those on the spectrum who feel that people are hopping on the bandwagon because they think it’s cool or hip, there’s something you need to understand about the world’s perception of Autism. Continue reading →

Autism Isn’t An Epidemic, Negativity Is

Posted on November 11, 2014 by flem0328

Normally, I’m a calm person that tries not to let many things get to me. Everything I read is usually with a grain of salt, that is until a parent/advocate for parents on the spectrum decides to write the type of garbage that involves the reinforcement of debunked myths and even goes as far as comparing Autism to public health emergency no less deadly and devastating than Ebola but we’ll get to that one shortly. Last night I read the type of article that makes every single one of my braincells want to take a loaded gun to their heads. Now before I can go any further, y’all have some assigned reading to to? I already know what you’re asking, “Assigned reading? The hell is this high school?” No but in order for you to feel and understand the rage in these next few paragraphs implore all of you to kill some braincells with the smut I’m about to post at the bottom of this paragraph. Don’t worry though, I’ll once again be waiting right here as awkwardly as Dora The Explorer while she awaits your answer.

WARNING!!! BRAINCELL KILLING SMUT AHEAD!!!!! Continue reading →

Back In My Day, Gates Only Involved Water, Nipples, and Spying

Posted on October 24, 2014 by flem0328

Remember the days when a “gate” involved an office complex? What about that “gate” that involved my home football team (The New England Patriots) spying on other teams during games? Oh, remember that “gate that involved Janet Jackson’s nipples (greatest seconds in television history if you’re a guy or a girl that interested in that sort of thing, I won’t judge, this blog is as safe zone as it gets). Anyways, before I get carried about about Janet Jackson’s nipples or how Justin Timberlake purposely ripped that breast plate off (He could have been a gentleman and covered her but he sat there twiddling his thumbs and watched what we watched for as long as it took for the cameras to move away). Now before I get really get carried away I need to explain to you what a “gate” is and what this has to do with me. A “gate” is a scandal and when referring to a scandal you attach that suffix at the end of whatever noun refers to that scandal. The origin of this term is the infamous “Watergate Scandal” that involved the Nixon administration and took place at the Watergate complex. An example of this phrase would be the whole Janet Jackson Superbowl incident was referred to as “nipplegate” because it involved her breast getting exposed on national TV in front of millions of families including children (OMG THE CHILDREN, ANYTHING BUT THE CHILDREN, LITTLE TIMMY DOESN’T WANT TO SEE JANET JACKSON’S BREAST). Listen, before I get back on topic, little Timmy enjoyed all three seconds of that as much as I did, maybe even more so stop being so naive. Your child has seen way more than nipples at his age if he’s lucky. You can’t protect your kids from smut no matter how hard you try. Now, let’s get back on track and don’t let me get derailed again otherwise you might get run over. Continue reading →

Autism Speaks Many Languages, Fear Isn’t One of Them

Posted on July 16, 2014 by flem0328

So recently I watched a new Autism documentary called “Sounding the Alarm: Battling the Autism Epidemic” or as I like to call it, a 57 minute commercial for Autism Speaks’ vile agenda. Now I stumbled upon a trailer for the documentary on Facebook a few days ago and already I felt uneasy with the tone of the trailer. The title itself was enough to turn my stomach a bit. First of all, the words “Autism” and “Epidemic” should NEVER be used in the same sentence. It also shouldn’t be in the same sentence as “Disease”. A disease shortens ones life expectancy has a negative impact on ones way of living. Being Autistic may make it difficult a times for me to connect with people but my way of living is no different than that of a healthy person. Now the point of this movie is to shed light on a big problem in this country and that is the fact that not every single state has insurance coverage for service for those on the spectrum such as ABA therapy and other early intervention services. The problem with this documentary/57 minute public service announcement is that at some points of this documentary it conveys this problem using the same fear tactics used by Autism Speaks. As a matter of fact, members of Autism Speaks including Suzanne Wright have a decent amount of airtime in this documentary. Continue reading →

The R Rating of a Different Kind

Posted on March 7, 2014 by flem0328

It’s been quite sometime since I wrote one of these and honestly, the reasons for my absence are irrelevant. I’m back and I’m ready to kick some more ass. Apparently this month within the disabilities community is “Spread the Word to End the Word” month. Now I had no idea this month was devoted that cause which is a little sad because it is a reminder of how out of touch I have been with the world as of late. For those who are completely unaware of what word I’m talking about, it’s a word a lot of us use very nonchalantly and even I have been guilty of using this word a lot in my youth. It’s a word we use so much we sometimes forget who that word hurts the most and is also a reminder of how disregarded the fight for disability rights is. I’m talking about the word “Retarded” or “Retard”, a word which from personal experience even as a black person I find more offensive than the N word. Now before every African American person or person of color goes batshit crazy over this statement, allow me to explain myself and my own personal struggle. Continue reading →

Does Autism Speaks Really Speak for me? #2: Obviously Not and Today they Gave Me a New Reason Why….

Posted on November 13, 2013 by flem0328

They say nothing says momentum, milking, and capitalizing on acclaim and attention like making a sequel to your critically acclaimed work. Nothing says ‘Highly Anticipated” like making a sequel to a highly praised movie or a multi-platinum album. Just recently, Eminem released a sequel to his critically acclaimed “The Marshall Mathers LP” and album that made parents everywhere cringe, an album I begged my mother for with no success, an album that I had to sneak into my house in the form of a burnt copy thanks to the dawn of commercially available CD burners in that day. Movie studios are notorious for making sequels for the sake of capitalizing on a films success however, few will make sequels for the sake of expanding a universe that has a lot of potential to grow and most importantly, resolve any conflicts that were unresolved in the previous film.

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Famous People On the Spectrum, HOLD ON WHAT?!

Posted on October 4, 2013 by flem0328

Most people who are reading this and don’t know any better would probably see this as some sort of twisted oxymoron and begin to question the validity of such a combination words because by our norms it is not always possible. Continue reading →

Ask Me Why I Talk Like That Again, I Dare You! I Double Dare You _______________________

Posted on September 30, 2013 by flem0328

If you’re an avid Pulp Fiction watcher or know people who avidly watch the movie and religiously quote it the same way those people who have convinced themselves they’re some self righteous pariahs quote the Bible then you can easily finish this sentence and if you can’t finish this sentence then I implore of you to watch Pulp Fiction. This blog post however isn’t about Pulp Fiction or how great Quentin Tarantino is as a writer. This is about another cross in my life I’ve been given to carry with pride as much as I don’t want to at times. People who know me personally already know where this blog is going .

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Well I Guess this is Growing Up…

Posted on September 19, 2013 by flem0328

So yesterday when I went to pick my sister up from high school a kid walked by me talking to his friend and told him “imma buy go and by these new Js (presumably Jordans), imma turn up”. Now those who aren familiar with street slang should know that the phrase “turn up” (turnt up = adjective) means to get drunk or high or both. It also means to go hard and let loose. I hope the kid meant the latter in the context of playing basketball. He was only thirteen-fourteenish but it made me think back to myself at his age and myself now. Back then sneakers, women, drugs, and alcohol were the last things on my mind. I seemed to be more fixated on getting the months Nintendo Power magazine before everyone in my class or whether or not my mother would finally get me a PS2 or a Game Cube or an Xbox or a Gameboy Advance or whether or not that girl in class with the apple bottom liked me just as much as I liked her.

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THE ANTIDOTE IS A TRAP KIDS, RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted on September 16, 2013 by flem0328

Right now some of you are probably confused as to what I may be alluding to for this next legendary entry and others probably already know what I’m going to be ranting about. To get the concept across however, I will have to educate you on a scenario from one of my favorite video games of all time that will hopefully serve as the perfect analogy for tonight’s rant.

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